


High Hopes Low Toxic Masculinity Stereotypes

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [23]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Cute boys, Flower Crowns, I don't think Rook is mentioned once, M/M, Paddy's hair changes color, References to Canon, So really only Malark and Paddy and Ava are the main characters, Some angst, This was an attempt to do fluff without plot, but only if you're REALLY paying attention, i love the tiefling and dragonborn children, i would die for both of them if i'm honest, is it correct?, probably not, sludge monster mention, victorian flower language has been used
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24796639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: Paddy ends up with a flower crown. That’s it that’s the fic.
Relationships: Malark Dundragon/Paddock "Paddy" Whitlaw
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	High Hopes Low Toxic Masculinity Stereotypes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubbleDramatically](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbleDramatically/gifts).



> Thanks BubbleDramatically for making me want to write this really, really badly. And for putting up with all my weird ideas and stuff. And for giving the idea of what happens with Paddy’s hair.  
> The town name was found by the use of google translate and is joining Abrigo, Pollo Malogrado, Calceus Ovium, and Oso Inconsciente in my and BubbleDramatically’s ever-growing list of stupid town names we found via Google Translate (the other ones not previously mentioned in other fics are coming out in ones currently WIP).

They were in a little town by the name of Estúpido Enano.

No one was going to ask _why_ the town was named “stupid dwarf”, but after going somewhere that was called “spoiled chicken”, “unconscious bear”, and “coat”, they weren’t even surprised that they were somewhere else with a weird name. It was nice to be somewhere for a break, though.

Malark leaned on the railing that edged around the room’s balcony. They had managed to find a decent inn to stay at, and he and Paddy were sharing a room again (not that they particularly minded). At the moment, however, Paddy was taking a bath in another room (they had just been fighting a sludge monster that had doused the poor wood elf in so much mud he looked more like a mud sculpture than he did himself). Torlin and Gwing had found some extra clothes for him to change into, thankfully, while someone fixed his other clothes (they didn’t want him to overexert himself, since the whole reason the sludge thing had targeted him in the first place was because he was trying to use some spell or other).

Down in the square, Ava was having fun entertaining the little kids in the town. While Torlin and Gimgar had some fun with Nagar (being just as entertaining to their credit), the green-haired dwarf was making flowers sprout on every available surface. One of the little girls was showing the others how to make flower crowns—Malark recognised the chains of daisies even from the inn, which wasn’t _that_ high off the ground but still far enough that some details were harder to make out.

“ _Mal! I need help!”_ Whipping around, Malark sprinted into the other room without even thinking that Paddy might not be wearing clothes. The wood elf was squinting at himself in the mirror but thankfully unharmed, and Malark stared at him for a few moments. “Do you know any spells to get this out of my hair? It’s not leaving.” He indicated the state of his hair. Most of it was his regular dark, almost black brown. However, the tips seemed to have turned orange naturally, not an ugly kind but rather the soft hues of autumn leaves.

Walking over and trying to calm his still pounding heart (he loved Paddy and he was glad he was okay but it would be nice if he hadn’t almost caused a _heart attack_ over something like his _hair_ ), Malark took some of Paddy’s still-drying bangs in his fingers and got a better look. “I think it’s just something that happened because of the mud? It should go away soon anyways.”

“I know that,” pulling back, Paddy leaned towards the mirror and frowned at his reflection, “but I don’t want to—if I _wanted_ colour in my hair I would have dyed it, I didn’t want a mud monster to do it for me!”

“Well, I think it looks nice.” The words were out of his mouth before Malark could stop them (usually he was better at that but Paddy had an odd effect on him only so many people did). Thankfully, he had the mask to hide the flushing that was obviously taking over his face. Paddy, however, had no such protections. As a result, Malark could see the immediate flush of the wood elf’s face without even the makeup to shield it. “I mean, you don’t—you don’t have to like it, but—”

“No, I—” Laughing nervously and looking away from Malark, Paddy pulled on the cloak that he’d been loaned and glanced furtively in Malark’s direction. “Why don’t we go and walk around Estúpido Enano, huh? Might take our minds off of things.”

Neither of them was willing to talk until they were in the square. Even then, it was mostly just a quiet comment from Paddy where he hoped aloud that Ava wouldn’t accidentally destroy anything.

“No, I think we need to be more worried about Rook when it comes to blowing things up.” Malark replied, and Paddy snorted. As they walked down the cobblestone pathway towards the little park and stone statue in the midst of the square, he noticed the little kids all looking up and over at Paddy.

“Magic boy!” One of them shouted, sprinting over. The kid was a little blond no older than seven with massive grey-green eyes, and he wrapped his arms around Paddy’s legs so tightly the wood elf nearly fell over. After a second he let him go and grabbed Paddy’s hand, eyes sparkling. “Come on! Ava says you can do magic!”

Glancing over at Malark as he was dragged towards Ava and the other kids, Paddy chuckled nervously and replied, “I can.”

Malark followed the pair over to the others and sat down on the closest bench. Paddy, meanwhile, ended up sitting on the ground while some girls played with his hair, commenting on how pretty it was with the orange and trying to braid some of the longer bits. Every so often as he threw little spurts of glowing orange leaves around, laughing all the while, he would look at Malark and send a smile his way. Whatever the meaning was, it was the kind that made Malark’s heart do a weird thing.

“Here.” One of the girls—a little blue dragonborn in a yellow shirt and white skirt—tottered over to Malark and put something on his head. At first, he didn’t know what it was. Then he realized that it was a little flower crown.

“Oh. What is it?” He asked, pointing at the flowers. She smiled innocently, clasping her hands behind her back as she replied.

“It’s—it’s daisies and—and goldenrod and snapdragons and thyme and violets and zinnia and—and coriander and eddy—edie—” Frowning, she seemed to try focusing really hard and then said, “Edelweiss!”

Smiling back at her behind the mask, Malark tugged the flower crown just a little tighter to his head and mused, “Thanks.”

One of the elf girls playing with Paddy’s hair chattered on for a little while about some interesting-looking crabs she’d found looking in a river whilst her brothers and sister played with Paddy’s glowing leaves and Ava’s plants. One of her friends, a purple tiefling boy, was putting together a flower crown of his own, occasionally glancing at Paddy and frowning a little bit before adding a few more flowers. His tail flicked impatiently as he worked. Some of the flowers Malark recognised—chamomile, daisy, some fern leaves, white jasmine, and roses (pink and dark crimson)—but others he didn’t.

Finally, the tiefling boy seemed satisfied with his creation and settled it in Paddy’s hair, his bracelets clicking together on his wrists. “Oh, thanks! I’ll wear it as long as possible.” Paddy sent a smile the boy’s way, and the tiefling gave a thumbs-up in reply. Then he jumped up and scampered off without much of a care.

“That’s Arizona, he doesn’t talk much.” The elf girl said.

“What did he put in the crown? I didn’t recognise all the flowers.” Paddy asked, glancing up at her as best he could as she undid some of the braids and played with his hair a little more. He didn’t seem to mind, from what Malark could tell, even with the unusual colours.

“Chamomile, daisy, fern leaves, white jasmine, dark crimson and pink roses, purple hyacinth—never said he was good at picking colours that went together—and some white hyacinth, too. Uh,” she tilted her head, blue eyes narrowing a little bit, before she continued, “dill flowers, which I don’t know _where_ he found in all of this, hyssop, marigold, willow, and some red tulips.”

Paddy’s eyes seemed to darken a little at some of the names, like he understood them somehow, but Malark didn’t think to bring it up. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Thanks for letting me play with your hair.”

Eventually, the kids had to leave as the sun began to set, and Malark and Paddy ducked upstairs (with the flower crowns still on, _obviously_ ).

As soon as they were behind closed doors, Paddy ducked into their bathroom, looking at the crown in the mirror. “Everything alright, Pads?” Malark asked, noticing how the wood elf was letting his fingers linger over some of the blossoms. Turning, Paddy sent a genuine-looking smile back at him, one that almost reached his eyes.

“Yeah, Mal, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He looked back at the mirror and added, quietly, “I’m fine.”

Leaning against the doorway, Malark watched him for a second, although he couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong. He just knew that there was something. However…now didn’t seem to be the time to ask. Walking over to the balcony, he glanced out over the square. Ava looked up at him at the exact time, grinned, and made a quick gesture.

Beside him on the balcony, a white flower—a camellia—and two red chrysanthemums bloomed.

Glancing down at her, Malark swore he saw her _wink_. The flower stems were twisted together in a way he knew had to be intentional. Shooting her a look, he thought, _are you really going to make me do this?_ (Suddenly he was thinking that it was rather ironic that they were in a town whose name meant _stupid dwarf_ ). _Come on, Ava. Really?_

She sent him back a thumbs-up.

Sighing, he plucked the flowers off the balcony and the vines retreated. He supposed he _could_ crush them, if he really wanted to…but he had a feeling that would mean he’d wake up with a bed full of rose vines and he didn’t feel like getting pricked with thorns. He _could_ also give them to Paddy, which would be overwhelmingly embarrassing and cheesy but would also get Ava off of his back for a few days at least. _She is insistent._

Taking a deep breath, he looked over his shoulder and said, “Hey, Paddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> My stuff is getting attention and I don’t know how I feel about that. Also, sorry for turning this into angst it was meant to be more fluff.  
> Flower meanings, according to the Farmer’s Almanac website:  
> Camellia (white)—You’re Adorable  
> Chamomile—patience in adversity  
> Chrysanthemum (red)—I love you  
> Coriander—hidden worth/merit  
> Daisy—Innocence, hope  
> Edelweiss—Courage, devotion  
> Goldenrod—Encouragement, good fortune  
> Hyacinth (purple)—Sorrow  
> Hyacinth (white)—Loveliness, prayers for someone  
> Hyssop—Sacrifice, cleanliness  
> Jasmine (white)—Sweet love, amiability  
> Marigold—Despair, grief, jealousy  
> Rose (dark crimson)—Mourning  
> Rose (pink)—Happiness  
> Snapdragon—Deception, graciousness  
> Thyme—Courage, strength  
> Tulip (red)—Passion, declaration of love  
> Violet—Loyalty, devotion, faithfulness, modesty  
> Willow—Sadness  
> Zinnia—Thoughts of absent friends  
> (please let me know if I missed any).  
> I very nearly forgot the last scene. Also, I’m going to keep the post-notes from being too long by not explaining the reasons behind each flower choice, but I will tell you that Arizona did NOT have a crush on Paddy or anything.


End file.
